Search results for "Optical microscope"
showing 10 items of 157 documents
Long slide holders for microscope stages
2018
ABSTRACT The use of automated techniques for image analysis of microscopic wood specimens together with new procedures for the preparation of stained xylem tissue support the use of quantitative wood anatomy. These techniques and procedures are especially useful in the studies of retrospective analysis of xylem phenology, reaction(s) of trees to stressful conditions of growth, or reconstruction of long-term growth trends. The unresolved technical problems during the digitalization of cross sections from entire increment cores were stabilization and precise shifting of long microscopic specimens onto the optical microscope stage. For this reason, we have developed a long slide holder for mic…
Effect of counting chamber depth on the accuracy of lensless microscopy for the assessment of boar sperm motility.
2017
Sperm motility is one of the most significant parameters in the prediction of male fertility. Until now, both motility analysis using an optical microscope and computer-aided sperm analysis (CASA-Mot) entailed the use of counting chambers with a depth to 20 µm. Chamber depth significantly affects the intrinsic sperm movement, leading to an artificial motility pattern. For the first time, laser microscopy offers the possibility of avoiding this interference with sperm movement. The aims of the present study were to determine the different motility patterns observed in chambers with depths of 10, 20 and 100 µm using a new holographic approach and to compare the results obtained in the 20-µm c…
Marine sponge collagen: isolation, characterization and effects on the skin parameters surface-pH, moisture and sebum
2002
A previously described isolation procedure for collagen of the marine sponge Chondrosia reniformis Nardo was modified for scaling-up reasons yielding 30% of collagen (freeze-dried collagen in relation to freeze-dried sponge). Light microscope observations showed fibrous structures. Transmission electron microscopy studies proved the collagenous nature of this material: high magnifications showed the typical periodic banding-pattern of collagen fibres. However, the results of the amino acid analysis differed from most publications, presumably due to impurities that still were present. In agreement with earlier studies, sponge collagen was insoluble in dilute acid mediums and all solvents inv…
On the Creeping of Saturated Salt Solutions
2013
Creeping is a well-known but annoying phenomenon in the preparation of crystals from solution, where growing crystallites gradually extend up the walls of the growth vessel. In this process, solution is transported toward the tip of the creeping crystallites, where solvent evaporation takes place and solid material is deposited. In this study, the growth of crystal aggregates extending from evaporating droplets of saturated aqueous solutions of ionic salts, placed on different substrate materials, has been investigated using optical microscopy. It is shown that the rate determining step of the crystallization process is the evaporation of solution, following Fick’s laws. Fresh solution, nec…
Photoluminescence Study of ZnSe Single Crystals Obtained by Solid Phase Recrystallization under Different Pressure Conditions. Effects of Thermal Tre…
2002
ZnSe single crystals, obtained by the Solid Phase Recrystallization (SPR) method under three different pressure conditions, 10 and 5 atm of Se, and 2 atm of argon, have been investigated by means of photoluminescence (PL) and optical microscopy. Special attention has been paid to the surface state of the samples. Samples recrystallized under 10 atm of Se present the best rate between the PL response for the excitonic zone and the deep level one that shows a clean PL emission without significant peaks and/or bands. The presence of slip bands has been detected and analysed by means of optical microscopy and photoluminescence. In order to study the changes introduced by post growth thermal tre…
In vitro experimental study of bonding between aluminium oxide ceramics and resin cements
2010
To evaluate bond strengths of different resin cements to two aluminum oxide-based ceramics. Methods: One hundred ten ceramic cylinders were produced and given four different surface treatments. Resin cement cylinders were then bonded to the ceramic cylinders using different resin cements and the bond strength was determined by shear testing to the breaking point. We were thus able to obtain results for the different combinations of porcelain, surface treatments and cements. All data was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test for more than two independent samples and the Bonferroni correction applied (a=0.01). An optical microscopy study was carried out to analyze the type of failure, and an…
Three-dimensional orientational colocalization of individual donor--acceptor pairs.
2004
We report on the determination of the three-dimensional orientation of the donor and acceptor transition dipoles in individual fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) pairs by means of scanning optical microscopy with annular illumination. Knowledge of the mutual orientation of the donor and acceptor dipole is mandatory for reliable distance determination based on FRET efficiency measurements. In our model system perylenediimide as the donor and terryelenediimide as the acceptor are coupled via a stiff p-terphenyl linker. The absorption dipoles of the donor and acceptor are selectively addressed by the 488 nm and 647 line of an Ar/Kr mixed gas laser, respectively. A clear deviation fr…
Bimodal drop size distributions during the early stages of shear induced coalescence
2005
Drop sizes and drop size distributions were determined by means of an optical shear cell in combination with an optical microscope for the systems polyisobutylene/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (I) and poly(dimethyl-co-methylphenylsiloxane)/poly(dimethylsiloxane) (II) at low concentrations of the suspended phases and at different constant shear rates ranging from 10 to 0.5 s-1 . After pre-shearing the two-phase mixtures (I: 50 s-1; II: 100 s-1) for the purpose of producing small drop radii, the shear rate was abruptly reduced to the preselected value and coalescence was studied as a function of time. In all cases one approaches dead end drop radii, i.e. breakup is absent. The drop size distribution…
Morphology of PEO/PDMS blends during shear: Coexistence of two droplet/matrix structures and additive effects
2005
Abstract The morphologies of blends of polyethyleneoxide (PEO 37) and poly(dimethylsiloxane)s (PDSM), with viscosity ratios, λ , of approximately one (PDMS 230) or 2.8 (PDMS 314, being the component of higher viscosity) and interfacial tensions on the order of 10 mN/m, were investigated at 70 °C as a function of shear rate (up to 10 s −1 ) and of time. For the system PEO 37/PDMS 230 we have also studied the influence of the compatibilizer dimethyl–ethyleneoxide–copolymer (PDMS- co -PEO), which is only reasonably soluble in PEO. To investigate the morphologies we have used an optical shear cell in combination with a light microscope. The most important observation consists in the formation o…
On the Role of Drop Break Up for Coalescence Processes and Morphology Development in Polymer Blends under Shear
2005
Drop sizes and drop-size distributions were determined as a function of time at constant shear rates, γ, by means of an optical shear cell in combination with an optical light microscope after preshearing the samples at high γ. The systems under investigation were PIB 3/PDMS 152 (PIB: polyisobutylene, PDMS: poly(dimethylsiloxane), numbers: average molar masses in kg/mol) and COP 26*/PDMS 48 (COP: poly(dimethyl-co-methylphenylsiloxane), asterisk: apparent molar mass); all measurements refer to 25 °C. Systems and conditions were chosen such that shear rates in the vicinity of the intersection of the coalescence and the break up curves become experimentally accessible. Under these conditi…